Burial-casket.



, Patented m. 26, 1901. E. A. POST. BURIAL CASKET. \Appiication filed June 25, 1900.;

(No Model.)

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PATENT OF ICE...

BU RlAL-CASKET.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 668,883, dated February 26, 190 1.

Application filed June 25, 1900.

T0 aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELISHA A. PosT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Allegan, in the county of Allegan and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Burial-Gaskets, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective of the molded casket; Fig. 2, an enlarged top view of one end thereof; Fig. 3, a vertical section through one end; Fig. 4, a vertical transverse section; Fig. 5, a detail plan view of the blank of one layer of paper of which the casket is molded; Fig. 6, a detail perspective of one end of the blank partly molded, and Fig. 7 a similar view showing the blank completely molded.

It is the object of this invention to produce a cheap, light, durable, and very strong burial casket; and it consists of certain novel features of construction hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The casket-body is made up of layers of coarse strawboard paper, each layer being formed from a one-piece blank 1 of such outline that when placed in amold and properly shaped up it forms the bottom, sides, and ends of the said casket-body. Each blank comprises the bottom portion 2, the side portions 3, which are folded along the dotted lines shown in Fig. 5, and the end portions 4, which are extensions of the side portions. The ends of the bottom are cut semicircular or in any other form it maybe desired to give the casket ends, and the adjacent edges 5 of the end portions 4: are cut to correspond thereto, so that when folded to their vertical position they will conform to the shape of the ends of the bottom and will abut against the outer edge thereof, as shown in Fig. 3, the vertical edges of these end portions abutting against each other, as at 6 in Figs 2 and 7. The two portions L at each end of the blank are unequal in length, so that when they are shaped up in the mold the meeting-line of the said end portions will be to one side of the longitudinal center of the casket, as shown in Figs. 2 and 7. It will thus be seen that the layers of paper may be made to break joints by having the meeting edges Serial No. 21,550. (No model."

of these end portions on one side of the con; ter in one layer and on the opposite side of the center in the contacting layer or layers, as shown in Fig. 2, and that by reason of this construction there will be no weak places in the walls of the casket and it will be unnecessary to overlap the vertical edges of these end portions. By forming the side walls and bottom from one-piece blanks all longitudinal joints between the said walls and the bot tom are avoided. It is obvious that a casket formed in this manner will have great strength and durability, as there will be practically no joints through which moisturecan enter the walls from either the inside or the outside of the casket.

The layers of paper are secured together in the mold by covering them with a cement formed by mixing alabastine, plastico,or plaster-of-paris, or other hydraulic cement with a solution of glue. This cement is applied to the blanks on both sides, except the inner layer, which is cemented on the outer side only, and the outer layer, which is cemented on the inner side only and is absorbed by the paper to a certain extent. While the sheets or blanks are moist with the cement they may be readily pressed into the mold and given the proper shape, and when a suflicient number of the sheets have been placed in the mold to form a casket having walls of the desired thickness and strength the mold is closed tightly by any suitable means and the cement permitted to harden.

By forming the blanks of coarse strawboard, so that considerable cement will permeate each layer, the walls of the casket will be exceedingly tough and elastic and will be impervious to moisture. The paper acts as an elastic base or support for the cement, and the cement when set secures the paper layers together and forms an earthen-like moistureproof wall between adjacent layers of paper.

When the casket is taken from the mold, its outer surface is subjected to a bath of hot asphaltum to render it impervious to moisture and practically non-decaying. The inner surface is permitted to remain soft, so that when it is desired to use the casket suitable liquid antiseptic preparations may be applied thereto and be readily absorbed thereby.

' Whenever desired, the mold may be formed with suitable grooves or beads, so that the outer surface of the casket will be suitablyembossed and ornamented.

The cover for the casket will be formed in the same Way as the casket-body, and the two parts will be suitably sealed and cemented together when in use.

It Will be observed that an essential feature lies in building up the casket of a series of layers or walls of paper alternating with a series of layers or walls of stone-like composition, both the paper layers and the stone layers being continuous around the bottom and sides and ends of the casket. The interposed mastic composition when hardened serves not only to connect the layers or walls of paper, but also to support the paper layers and give the necessary rigidity to the casket, While the paper layers give lightness to the casket and afford the necessary cushion for the stone-likelayers, preventing the latter being broken under rough usage. Thus making the Walls of the casket gives sufficient rigidity to the same to avoid the necessity of employing metal strengthening-frames in the walls, thereby greatly cheapening the manufacture of the casket.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A burial-casket formed of a series of layers of paper suitably secured together, each layer being formed of a blank comprising a bottom portion and integral side portions and end portions formed as extensions of the side portions, the end portions and the ends of the bottom portion being so shaped that when molded they form a suitably-shaped casket end, the meeting edges of the end portions abutting together at one side of the longitu' dinal center of the casket and the meeting edges of the end portions of one layer breaking joints with the corresponding meeting edges of the adjacent layer or layers.

2. A burial-casket formed of a series of layers of paper and an interposed layer of adhesive material, each layer of paper consisting of a bottom portion and side portions and end portions, the end portions being extensions of the side portions and having their extremities meet at the respective ends of the casket, the meeting edges or joints of the end portions of each layer breaking joints with the corresponding meeting edges of the adjacent layers.

3. A burial-casket formed of alternating layers of paper boards and cementitious material,,each paper-board layer being formed from a one-piece blank comprising integral bottom, side and end portions and being cut and molded to the form of the casket, the meeting edges of the cut portions of said blank abutting together edge to edge without overlapping, the meeting edges of one layer breaking joints with the corresponding edges of the adjacentlayers, whereby the interiors of each of the layers are smooth and unbroken, and the interposed layers of cementitious material extend entirely around the walls and bottom of the casket and are of even thickness and weight throughout.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses, this 15th day of June, 1900.

ELISHA A. POST.

Witnesses:

FIDUS E. FISH, JOHN M. HEATH. 

